Even after the final episode aired Sunday night, it was tough to decide who actually won this fall's edition of CBS' travel competition The Amazing Race.

Technically, that honor fell to brother and sister Nick and Starr Spangler, who were shown leading most of the way through a final race leg that stretched from Moscow to Portland, Ore., where the two met host Phil Keoghan at the finish line and won $1-million. The win capped a competition that spanned 23 days, five continents and nearly 40,000 miles of travel.

But Tampa businesswoman Tina Greene and husband Ken also left the race as winners of a different sort, rekindling an on-the-rocks marriage through the competition and redonning their wedding rings during the finale episode's last moments.

"I've been crying since I saw the end of the show," said Tina Greene, calling from a finale party organized by CBS in New York City on Sunday. "I feel like I let Ken down; if I had been a little more aggressive … maybe we would have won. But when Kenny pulled those rings out, I didn't care about the $1-million." Tina Greene said second-place prize money totaled $25,000.

Ken Greene said he had been carrying their wedding rings around, without Tina's knowledge, for the entire race, certain that he would know whether to pull them out and suggest a recommitment by the time the action finished. Now, after throwing all his belongings in a truck and driving 43 hours to Tampa from San Diego in September, the former pro football player is ready to publicly resume his life with his wife.

"I figured when I pulled the rings out, she had no choice, with all those people around," he said Sunday, laughing about the way he surprised Tina at the finish line with her wedding ring, which she accepted with tears. "And after all we'd been through (on the race), if I didn't win her back now, I never could."

In the show's final episode, Ken Greene let his fellow competitors in on a secret — that he and his wife had been separated before the race began.

"I'm asking you to start this thing all over again," he said then, as tears began to choke up his voice a bit. "And we'll do it right this time."

Twenty-something fraternity brothers Andrew Lappitt and Dan Honig — dubbed Team "Superbad" for their resemblance to the nerds depicted in the movie of the same name — came in a distant third, to the surprise of almost no one, including Lappitt and Honig.

Starting in Moscow, the race's three remaining teams piled onto a flight to the final city, Portland, with each pair after the $1-million prize. But as the groups dashed out of the Portland airport, Team Superbad made a race-ending mistake — picking a cabdriver who had no idea how to reach the landmark they were racing toward.

Instead, the Spanglers and the Greenes sped through the final leg's challenges, separated from each other by minutes during much of the competition. One crucial hitch: a challenge in which teams had to walk across a log suspended 30 feet high; thanks to a fear of heights, Tina Greene got hung up here and the Spanglers pulled ahead.

Now that the competition is over, Ken and Tina Greene each blame themselves — Tina fears her delays on the log cost too much time, Ken frets that he could catch a cab sooner. But despite doubts from friends and fans that getting on a reality show would save their marriage, their time on The Amazing Race seems to have done exactly that.

"I wouldn't do it again, and I wouldn't recommend it," said Ken Greene. "But for us, it looks like it worked out."

Ken and Tina: The Only Couple Who Actually Repaired Their Relationship In Amazing Race History

Every season there’s at least one romantically involved team that comes on the race to decide whether their relationship has a future. Usually the stress of the competition means the answer is a resounding, “No.” But reformed cheater and ex-NFL player Ken and his often demanding wife Tina proved the happy exception. In the final, they lost the million by a hair. But they won something more important. Their successful partnership on the race inspired Ken to ask Tina to start wearing her wedding ring again. They told fancast how being in a pressure cooker saved their marriage.

How far behind Nick and Starr were you?Ken: We’ve heard different reports. It was somewhere between five and fifteen minutes. So it really was close. It wasn’t a trick of the editing. Tina: That made it hard. The emotional part of it, too. But it had a happy ending.

It seemed like the memory challenge was the deciding factor in this leg. What happened there that enabled Nick and Starr to pull ahead?Tina: I think where Nick and Starr pulled ahead was running back and forth. They were so quick. For some reason I felt I had to walk to get my head around it. We made a few mistakes, but they did too. We were keeping a log and a diary just like they were. The stress of it, and on top of that trying to find different clues, because the last clue for us was way at the back of the hundred and fifty boxes. It took us a long time to get to it. Some of that’s luck, which box you open. Some of it’s memory. And they definitely did a really good job on that task. Ken: They were very good at everything they did in the last couple legs. But really the race came down to the last task. We were basically neck and neck. They found the dragon right away. [Note: It was a dinosaur. That may have been part of the problem.] We walked away from it. That’s where we really lost a bunch of time. If we were able to do anything again differently, it would have been finding the dragon because we didn’t see it as we got out of the cab and they did. It might have been the young eyes versus the old eyes. Who knows?

Ken, when you took out the rings at the matt and asked Tina to wear them, it was such a beautiful, emotional moment. How long had you been planning that?Ken: The plans kept changing during the race. One minute I thought I was pulling them out, and the other I was stashing them away. It’s something I had considered and prepared for at the start of the race, think the race would reveal whether we’d be together or whether we should stay apart. As the race continued it became obvious that, even though we had our moments, she was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to share something like that together. Then, at the end, to share it with all the people we came to love over the course of the race.

You, along with Nick and Starr, absolutely dominated this race. What were your secrets to success?Tina: I think we complement each other well. Ken’s strengths are my weaknesses. My strengths are his weaknesses. His strengths are my weaknesses. One of the strategies we incorporated was getting along with all the teams, trying to gather information at every opportunity. We’re both physically fit even though we’re double their age. We’re both well traveled. We don’t take no for an answer. We just pushed through even when we had out tough moments. We thought we could win the relationship back and the race. We got the more important one I think even though we felt bad not to win the million.

Tina, at several points during the race you helped out other teams. That seemed to be a source of conflict for the two of you. What was your philosophy on helping people?Tina: It’s kind of who I am. I like to help people. But I wanted them to remember that because we may need their help later. Ken did it too. You just didn’t see it. He told Nick and Starr where the bus station was in Cambodia. We all shared information. Some of it was on TV and some of it wasn’t. It’s difficult when you look as these kids, some of whom are younger than our kids (our youngest is 24) and you see them struggling. If they ask for help, you want to help them. It’s how both of us are. He did get mad at me about Dallas. He was right, too. If they had not lost their passport and money, we probably would have been out.

What happened during that leg? Why did it take you so long to find the clue box in Moscow?Ken: We were going to take the train and we were told we couldn’t. It was too late. That started out downward spiral. We got on the wrong bus. That was my fault. It turned out to be a trolley with metal wheels not a trolley bus. So we had to go back and repeat that. The very last thing was we got dropped off half a mile from the clue box when everyone else got dropped off right in front. We spent three hours trying to find that clue box. We were running non-stop. That didn’t help us going into the final leg because we’d spent ourselves pretty much physically.

Who did you consider to be your biggest rivals on the race?Ken: When we came into the race, and we were sizing people up, we thought our biggest threats were going to be Nick and Starr, Mark and Bill, Terrance and Sarah. We thought those groups were going to be real strong and they proved to be.

What were your best and worst moments of the whole race?Tina: My best moment was when he pulled out the rings at the end. It was a very moving moment for me. The other teams didn’t know we were separated and living on opposite coasts. We felt like they might use that to put a wedge between us. I’ve got to tell you that some of them were shocked. Even the camera men and the sound guy were in tears at the end. Just to see that the teams really thought we loved each other, really thought we got along. And I think they knew us better than the fans did. They all said, “You should have the Ken and Tina show. You guys are hilarious.” My worst moment was climbing the sky tower because it was a beautiful moment but when I got to the top I was scared to death.Ken: Probably the worst moment for me was [the leg we came in last] when we were so frustrated. We’d done the tasks very well, continued to have poor luck with our taxis. We thought we were going to be eliminated. That was incredibly frustrating. My best moment was her worst moment, when we were at the top of the sky tower. The sun came up over the ocean and it was a very unique and blessed moment.

What inspired the two of you to try out for the race?Tina: I’ve been a huge fan since the very first promo for Amazing Race One. I watched every season. Ken watched most of them with me. We always said we wanted to do it but because he was in coaching it would have been impossible. He got out of coaching. We were separated. We were seeing each other every month. He came for Thanksgiving and I had seen on the internet that they were taking applications that were due next week. So I just said to him, “Do you want to do this? I think it would be a good strategy for us to spend more time together, to see if we can work well as a team. “ Monday morning before his plane flew out we filled out the application, did the video, just on the fly. We didn’t rehearse it. We didn’t have a script. It ended up being exactly three minutes. On the way to the airport we FedExed it then forgot about it for a while. Ken thought we were definitely going to be picked. I was shocked when they called me. It was definitely a blessing in our life and something we always wanted to do. Now I’m hoping they’ll take all the number two teams from all the seasons and have a race with us.

How have things been for the two of you since the end of the race? Did the connection you forged translate into boring real life?Ken: Absolutely. We couldn’t go through tougher times then we did on the race. I moved back home in September. We’re continuing to grow together on our relationship. We wanted to take our relationship from a manageable one to a magnificent one.

What advice would you give to other competitors on The Amazing Race? Tina: That no matter how well prepared you are, it’s overwhelming.Ken: The most basic issue, which a lot of people don’t do, which shocks me is that you have to be in great shape to do this show. There’s no way that you can be successful unless you’re ready to run.

For Ken and Tina Greene, The Amazing Race 13 was about much more than simply competing for a cash prize.

Less than one year after their separation following five years of marriage, both Ken, a 51 year-old home-builder and ex-NFL player from San Diego, FL and Tina, a 48 year-old president of BioPharmMed from Tampa, FL, saw their participation on the race as a last ditch effort to see if their relationship would was meant to be or not. While they fell short of the grand prize and finished second to "Brother and Sister" Nick an Starr Spangler, Ken and Tina were able to win their own challenge as they reconciled their relationship.

On Monday, Ken and Tina talked to Reality TV World about what troubles they encountered while trying to fix their relationship and compete at the same time, which team they were unable to strike up a friendship with on the show, and how Tina reacted after learning that Nick had stolen her GPS equipped taxi in the tenth leg.

Reality TV World: Did you think you had any chance of catching up to Nick and Starr in the final stretch of the last leg, or were they too far ahead of you?

Tina: No, they were only 5-7 minutes ahead, we definitely could catch them. We were ahead of them at the clue boxes and we definitely knew that they were well in sight.

Ken: When we left the clue boxes, they took off before us. Our cab driver actually caught back up to them and we were side-to-side for a few minutes and then their cab driver pulled ahead, so we were close. Going into the green [dinosaur] it was very close. It was almost simultaneous, they came around one side and we came around the other, but they saw the [dinosaur] in the window immediately and we were pulled off in another direction.

Reality TV World: About how far behind Nick and Starr did you end up arriving at the finish line, was it only 5-7 minutes?

Tina: It was 5-7 minutes.

Ken: I think 5-15 [minutes] is a pretty reasonable guesstimate.

Reality TV World: What do you think was the final difference-maker during that final stretch? Was it Nick and Starr's ability to complete the memory board before you or was it your difficulty in finding a taxi after the Voodoo donut shop clue?

Tina: I think it was actually, I mean my opinion was [when we were] trying to find a cab because we had one heck of a time finding a cab. One stopped and Ken offered him $50, now he's saying he wishes he would've offered him $100 or $150 because that could have made the difference right there.

Ken: And I just should say, Nick and Starr were flawless on that last leg. They didn't make any mistakes and they did an outstanding job, and even through all that we still had a chance to win in the end and we just didn't quite get it done. So we just tip our hats to them, they did a great job.

Tina: Yeah they sure did.

Reality TV World: Just to take a step back for a moment, could I just ask how long had you been married and then separated before going on the race?

Tina: Yeah, it was five years -- July 5 of this year -- and we've known each other seven years yesterday, we were introduced seven years ago. We got separated the July before the race, so by the time we went on the race it had been about, I guess, nine months.

Reality TV World: Whose idea was it to apply for the show?

Tina: It was mine. I've been a big fan of the show since the beginning, and Ken loved the show too and we always talked about how we should do this together and he coached so we couldn't. And when he went into home building and were seeing each other, he came for Thanksgiving weekend and I had found out that the applications had to go in that Monday, so I had him print it out and I said "If you want to do this, we've got to fill these applications out and shoot a three minute video." So we kinda winged the video at the last minute and the [Fed Ex-ed it in] on the way to the airport, and then the rest is history I guess.

Reality TV World: When you were applying for the show, did you see it as an opportunity to test your relationship?

Ken: Oh we knew absolutely that [The Amazing Race] would be the final testing ground to see if we were going to make it or brake it, that was our main objective going in. We knew that when we finished on that finish line it was either "Yes, we're together" or "No, we're going our separate ways."

So it helped us fortify our relationship and realize that we are different, but we have a lot of strengths in one another that we really appreciate and just hope to keep cultivating the marriage.

Reality TV World: You said it was kind of "make it or break it," were you worried at times -- because there were lots of ups and downs that everyone [went through on the race] -- that the race and the emotions that went with it would hurt your relationship more than help it?

Ken: I thought there were two of three times in the race where I thought to myself, and she did too, "This is not gonna fly. Let's get through it and then go our separate ways." But then you work and you see the other part of it and we had so many good moments that made me realize "No, I definitely don't wanna let her go, I'd love to be with her for the rest of my life," so that's what was my final feeling.

(To Tina) I don't know about you...

Tina: Yeah, I think the race tests you on so many levels, but it also exposes. I saw some strengths in Ken that I never even knew were there, and his strengths are definitely my weaknesses and my strengths are definitely his weaknesses.

You know, none of the other racers knew we were separated -- that was something that we just wanted to keep to ourselves so no one kinda put a wedge in between us -- and they were all floored in the end when we were on the mat and they found it out. I mean, you could see every jaw drop and they were all in tears and so were all the camera men and the sound guys. I was balling last night watching it again, it was a real emotional night last night.

But [The Amazing Race] was such a blessing in our lives and we know that, even though we didn't win the million and of course we wanted to, we won something that's going to be a lot more lasting and had a wonderful experience.

Reality TV World: How has your relationship been going since the completion of the race?

Ken: It's been great. You know obviously it's a work in progress, as it will be until the day we die. That's part of marriage, nothing's perfect, nothing is automatic and is something you have to work with every day.

It's kind of like this economy, you've got struggles, there's difficult times, but if you're committed you'll work through it and you'll make the best of a bad situation so when the good times come you can really appreciate the good times.

We feel like we're in the good times now.

Tina: I mean, just to give you a little insight, Ken drove 43-straight-hours in a U-Haul with all of his things from San Diego to Tampa to be with me and arrived on my birthday morning. I think that said a lot to me, and to everyone, that we're very serious about making this work.

Reality TV World: That's great! Moving back to the show now, Ken you joked during the last leg that Nick and Starr were benefiting from having a "horseshoe up their rear ends," Do you think that their good luck was what put them ahead of you in the end?

Ken: I think that they had a pretty hot streak going where they were having all the breaks going their way. We had it early in the race, and that's how you win a lot of these legs. It's not based totally on abilities, there are a lot of other factors that come into play, which predominantly are the cabs. That's the one that is make or break for the most part.

But there are other issues that can make it really good for you [too], so yeah they were on a roll and they had some really good things happen to them. But the bottom line is, when we got to that last day, that last stage, we did two things head on: We did the climbing and they beat us in that, and we did the [clue boxes] and they beat us in that. They were definitely deserving.

Reality TV World: When it came to that Detour challenge, it did involve heights, and Tina you had said throughout the race many times that you have a fear of heights. Was the clue for that unclear and not say that things were going to be up in the air?

Tina: No, it really didn't. I mean, I kind of assumed when there was a "high" one and a "low" one, but the way the clue read we felt it was going to be faster and that's generally how we made all of our decisions. I guess God was testing me because we did quite a number of height challenges on this race! (laughs). Hopefully I'm getting over that fear now.

My one big mistake [during the Detour] was I didn't realize that when Nick and Starr got there that they were running on another [course] parallel to us. I was watching Ken do it and then they were mounting the camera on me -- which I wish they had mounted it on Ken -- but I thought they had to wait behind us to do it. So I think I would have done that task a lot faster and not said that my helmet was falling off and choking me, and not been as scared and probably been more aggressive.

I didn't even realize that, just down the way, [Nick and Starr] were doing the same thing quickly. We ended up running down the hill really fast and caught up with them and jumped in our cab right as they were pulling out, so it didn't make a huge difference. But, kind of like when we went on the zip line, I was the first to go and then Ken, and I knew they had to wait.

Reality TV World: When did you realize that [they didn't have to wait during the Detour], was it after the challenge or mid-way through?

Tina: No, I didn't even realize until I jumped and grabbed the clue, and then when I was coming down with the clue they were running off and then I realized and I was like "What's going on?" and [Ken] was like "Honey, they finished."

I was oblivious, you know you get so focused on the race, especially if you're scared. (laughs) I was the shortest of the four of us and it was further for me to jump to that dang bar!

Reality TV World: Tina, if we could go back a few legs, you seemed to ruffle a few feathers when people thought you incorrectly took credit for getting the airline to use a larger plane on that flight to Fortaleza. Were you surprised by that reaction?

Tina: A little bit, because it's all intent and I think sometimes people make more out of it than not. The whole intent of that, whether or not it came across that way, was that it's hard when you hear the "Go" and you get your first clue and you want to run and do the race. To think about sitting in the airport for 4-5 hours kind of takes that adrenaline out of everyone, and I think there was a lot of infighting going on between teams and it was more just to say "Hey guys, chill out. We're all gonna be on the same plane, they switched it, whatever."

It wasn't more to blow my own horn or say "Thank me" or whatever, it really wasn't intended that way. It was just like, hey we're all gonna get on it, we're all gonna get to run the race.

But then when we got in line, Ken and I both felt that they had told us down there that we were going to be first on [the flight] because you couldn't get boarding assignments, and then there was that little altercation with [Terrence Gerchberg]. Ken can address part of the plane thing, (to Ken) can't you?

Ken: Well, a lot of people didn't think she'd made a difference in getting another plane, and she did. Instead of none of us getting on the earlier flight and having to sit in the airport for an additional few hours, or all of us getting a flight and getting the next challenge. Like she said, they got us a bigger plane, so it benefited everybody. It didn't just benefit us.

So when they started questioning her integrity as far as if she was telling the truth, that's when I got a little heated. I was sitting there, I saw the whole thing. And if you watched the episode you saw that she, in fact, did cause that thing to happen.

Still though, even today, there are people who are like "Oh yeah right." But if you can't look at the TV and see the facts I guess you're deaf, dumb and blind.

Reality TV World: Tina, I actually had another question for you. We just spoke with Nick, and he said that neither of you had realized that he had stolen your taxi with the GPS during the tenth leg until you watched the show, and he said that you were a little put off by that?

Tina: Well, I'm the type of person... I know it's a race, and I know anybody can do whatever they want to do, but we did have an early alliance with them, and when he taunted me and kind of lied to me in the temple... I didn't talk to anybody else about it, I'm not the type to talk behind people's backs, and I think you'll notice throughout the show that Ken and I were never disparaging any team, we're just not like that. We would rather try to work together and find redeeming qualities in everybody if it's possible, and with some of [the teams] it was hard to find those, but we looked for them.

But with Nick, I addressed it with him when we got to the Pit Stop and I just said it would have been fine to hide the clue, that's your prerogative, but you lied to me and you taunted me by saying "Hey Tina, did you find anything?"

So he'd already apologized and we'd already had our little confrontation over that, so there was no way in heck he was going to tell me that he stole my cab with the GPS, but he did tell me that night that "Oh it was so easy, my guy just took me straight to the antique bookstore and then he knew right where to go."

They didn't show all of the things I went through: three different cabs and running all over and having one heck of a time getting where I needed to go.

So when I saw the show, and in fact there have been a lot of people writing on our web site, kennyandtina.com, and on Facebook and on email that "We hate Nick and Starr" and "Nick is so devious, he stole your cab with the GPS."

So no I had no idea until I saw the show and I was a little upset. But, you know, it's all in good fun.

Reality TV World: You both managed to finish in second place despite surviving finishing last in a non-elimination round and having to complete a Speed Bump challenge on the following leg. As you made your way through that ordeal did either of you think that you would still get as far and make it as far as you ended up going?

Ken: Well we felt like if we could survive that leg... We never had any doubts that we could win the whole race, I don't think that was ever a question. But when we got last on that one particular leg, we had done the two tasks as quickly as we could possibly done them. I just think we had poor luck in finding cabs.

So once we survived that and made it to the next leg and then got fourth instead of being eliminated completely, we realized that we still had a chance to win the race. That never changed. I think we believed that until the final running up to the mat when we got second.

Reality TV World: You both said at different times that you felt like something of a parental figure to some of the younger teams and even included each of you sometimes helping other teams. Was that a role that either of you expected to take on while on the race?

Ken: No. (Both laugh)

Tina: I think it all started with Nick and Starr calling us "Mom and Dad," that's what they nicknamed us when they were narrowing down the teams to eleven out in Los Angeles.

Ken: They set us up with that, they softened us right away.

Tina: It probably was a ploy. But, to be honest with you, most of those teams are younger than our youngest child, our youngest child is 24 and our oldest child is 28. So it's a fact, they all could've been our children and when you see them struggling, like when I saw Toni struggling or Dan or Andrew, you wanna help them because you kind of envision your own children struggling at something.

Reality TV World: What was the hardest thing that either of you did while on the race?

Tina: Well I think for me definitely, and this will be different for Ken obviously, but it was climbing the [Auckland] Sky tower. It was very windy and it was hard work climbing up those rungs. It's an extremely tall structure and I was scared, but I'm proud of myself that I did it.

It was an unbelievable experience to get on a helicopter and fly through a rainbow and see so much of New Zealand. We were really rewarded for our efforts, but that was the toughest thing I did.

Ken: The [one most physical] challenge was the heavy bags [filled with flour], but the most difficult day was the Russia day we started out with the buses and then had to find that last clue and couldn't find it and we virtually ran for three hours. We were dropped off trying to find that clue box and we'd been running and walking for three hours in a panic trying to find it [and] knowing that the other teams were starting to close in on us.

That was probably the most difficult day for me mentally, and it was exhausting! We started at 6AM and finished at 7:30PM that night and I think I had a Snickers bar all day and no water. Tina didn't have anything [to eat] that I can remember, so we were physically spent. Then we went on the short day, the short turnaround going to Portland, OR so we weren't as refreshed as we would have liked to have been. But that's the way the race works.

Tina: What they didn't show there too is that our trolley bus actually let us off probably a half-mile down and the other teams were dropped off right by that clue box, which made it much easier to spot. We were dropped off quite a ways down, and that's where the confusion came in.

Reality TV World: What teams did you get along with the best and worst with?

Ken: That's a loaded question my brother! (Both laugh) I felt like we got along with all the teams very well. Initially we didn't get along with Terence and [Sarah Leshner], but we turned out to love them. I think [we didn't initially have any bond with Aja Benton] and [Ty White] but now we're as close as you can get.

The one team that I struggled with during most of the race, which I don't know if Tina did or not, was [Christy Cook] and [Kelly Crabb]. You know, they were doing their own thing and they were very competitive and I didn't like some of their tactics, so I didn't really particularly care for them for most of the race. But after it all concluded, like everything else, we really enjoyed everybody and feel really thankful to have this crew to run with and do the race with.

Reality TV World: Is there anything that you expected to make it onto the show that was edited out?

Tina: That's a really good question, there were a lot of things. Ken and I have this funny thing [where] he's always said we're Green Acres, he's country and I'm city, and he likes to sing that song and have me do my part and him do his part. When he was moving the flour bags he started singing that, I think trying to make it a little more fun and a little bit better for him. None of that made it on, I think that woulda been cute.

But other than that, just some of the things that happened and explained things a little bit more because I think that sometimes... You know, we've really had a tremendous response from fans. It's been unbelievable and such a blessing, so many people pulling for us and so many people wanting us to win. They even told us at the parties last night "You guy's had the biggest cheers and people wanted you to win." Everywhere we go or travel we have people running up to us in airports and subway stations and everything [saying] "Please tell me you're back together." We get recognized a lot, it's amazing.

So they must have shown enough good things to kind of overshadow some of the negative. (laughs)

Reality TV World: Have you gotten to go on any of the trips that you both won by winning all of the legs of the race that you did?

Ken: (sarcastically) I'm going on two, she hasn't been on any. (Tina laughs) But no, they haven't given us our trips yet, so we'll be getting those in the future.

Tina: And we're excited, we can't wait!

We're working on trying to do some type of adventure/travel show because we both have a lot of experience with travel and making exciting trips and being adventurous. We think we can show other people really how to explore and see areas instead of just going to a resort and just staying there and being at the beach or pool or whatever.

So what we're hoping to talk to CBS and some other possibilities about maybe doing something like that. All of the other teams were saying "You should have The Kenny and Tina Show, you guys are so funny." I don't think that they all realized the struggles that we were having, so it was refreshing to see.

Ken and Tina entered The Amazing Race with much more on the line than any other team. Their task was bigger than money. Long-married, they had separated for the better part of a year and were looking to reconcile their relationship. Throughout the season, they not only proved themselves as one of the two best teams in the field, but started the process of fixing their marriage. We spoke with Ken and Tina earlier this week about their time on The Amazing Race, where they are at as a couple, and what the future holds for them.

Hey, this is Oscar Dahl from BuddyTV and I'm here with Ken and Tina from Amazing Race. Ken, Tina, how are you two doing?

Tina: Great!

Ken: Great, how are you?

So what was it like watching the finale last night, i imagine it got pretty emotional there in the end?

Tina: It did. It was a very emotional night for us and especially for me. I mean, I kind of broke down a little last night on a personal level and also you're kind of reliving everything that happened and thinking, "If i would have done this or if i gotten across the log faster or if I just moved quicker," because we were close. We could have won the marriage back and won the million dollars, but it didn't quite work out the way.

How many minutes did you guys actually finish behind Nick and Starr?

Tina: It's around five or seven somewhere in there.

Ken: Close!

Watching the episode last night both you and Nick and Starr seem to run pretty flawless legs. Was there anywhere you lost a significant amount of time that the viewers might of missed?

Ken: Yeah, where we missed was when we finished the boxes and went to the dragon, the green dragon building. They got out of their cab and they saw it as soon as they stepped out of the cab. We came up on the other side of the street and didn't see it initially and actually went down and walked around an entire block, so that's where we lost time. Looking back on it last night and realizing we finished so close that when I offered the cab driver the 50 dollars to take us to the mansion, I had more money in my pouch and I still don't know way i didn't offer him everything I had in my pouch because I believe if we had gotten in the cab we would have won the race.

You should have offered the people inside the cab the money.

Tina: Now that we've thought about it, I think it must have been his girlfriend. She wasn't in the back she was in the front and so probably they were going on a date or taking her home or something. You know hindsight is always 20/20 we thought, "We are in a big city, Portland, there's probably plenty of cabs."

Ken: As soon as we got in the last group I was figuring there would be more right behind.

So the story for you two obviously during the season was the reconciliation and bringing your marriage back. How have you two been since the race, which ended about 6 months ago, right?

Ken: Yes. Well, I moved to Tampa been there since September. We knew that we had a lot of work to do, not only during the race, but figured there was something we continue to build after, which all marriages need to do. It's been a work in progress. We're enjoying each other, things are going very well and we want to take this from a good marriage to a great marriage and we learned a lot along the way and hopefully we can share that with some other people because we know that marriage is not an easy thing for anybody.

Tina: Well, Ken didn't tell you - he did move to Tampa but he did it in a pretty demonstrative fashion. He ordered a U-Haul and drove 43 straight hours across the country form San Diego to Tampa to arrive early the morning of my birthday. And that was a pretty astonishing feat there.

Ken: Got to keep the race going a little!

What are the long lasting effects of the race going to be? Was the experience something that was so unique that you couldn't have got what you got on the race anywhere else?

Tina: I totally think it was. It was one of the most unique experiences of either of our lives. I was extremely well traveled all over the world and nothing that I have ever done compared to this. The people we met, the cultures, the whole crew that works on the show are amazing. A class act from top to bottom, and we learned so much about each other. I saw so many strengths in Ken that I didn't even know he had. When you spend almost 5 or 6 weeks with someone and you are not more than 20 feet apart, you obviously see so many things as you're working as a team and having been forced to work together. You see a lot of strengths in the other person and I think his strengths are absolutely my weaknesses and I think a lot of my strengths are his weaknesses.

Ken: Another thing too that we hope we brought out of this is we've got a legacy for our kids and their kids to see some day because we are not spring chickens. We are in our 50's and life is moving on and I gave us one last chance to compete in a situation that we would never have another opportunity to do. It was all around phenomenal.

Tina: Don't say last chance. We're hoping they will do a new race where they will take all the second place finishers and let us all run against each other. I think that would be awesome.

In terms of competition, or just the race in general, what surprised you most about being on the race?

Ken - For me, it was the lack of sleep and food. I thought I didn't really - I knew about and heard about it but I didn't anticipate it to be quite the factor that it turned out to be. But I was not surprised about Tina because I knew that she would be very good under those circumstances, because typically she never sleeps anyway and doesn't eat very much. She's sharp, the effect on her is going to be much more minimal on her than it was on me and it was tough.

Tina: Oscar, I think we thought we were really prepared and we have watched all the old episodes. We had trained hard physically in a lot of different ways and unique ways. We went to the military and different things. I really thought we knew we were going to handle it well. It is so hard to comprehend unless you've done it. The mental stress, the physical stress, the emotional stress, us dealing with a broken relationship. I think it added more drama and stress, but it is a difficult challenge the entire race and I think a lot of people...I used to be the one sitting in my living room saying, "Why did they do that? What were they thinking? Why did they run here?" When you're in the heat of the battle and you're dehydrated, hungry and tired it can overwhelm you and it's something to be revered. I think the show should have won all six Emmys because it is really a phenomenal show and a phenomenal challenge.

You two have any big plans for the future, anything coming up soon?

Tina: We do. We are working on a couple different things. We'd really be interested in some kind of adventure travel show, because I think both Ken and I, even before the race - we're very adventurous travelers and when we travel we really dig into the culture. We dig into the physical aspect of everything where we're going and we think we can show a lot of other people how to have more fun and more enjoyment and be more physically active, no matter what your age is when you're on vacation. We're looking at that and hoping that maybe CBS, Travel Channel and Discovery, we don't know the venue ye,t but we're working on it and hoping that someone will get excited about that and we're praying that maybe we will be selected for an All-Stars or something else because we want another shot at this. Those are a few of the things we are looking at.

I think if they had won the million dollars and got back together there would have been a large number of cynics suggesting they only reunited because of the money. Although I'm sure they are disappointed not to win, especially when they were only beaten by a few minutes, I'm really pleased that they have 'won' in their personal relationship

They were married, they were separated/living apart at the time of the race, they have since reunited and both now live in Tampa...

And I love these guys, honest, straightforward, loads of fun, just delightful all around.

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Ken and Tina are just great, so I'll work on them! We would be enriched by their joining us...

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Hi There TAR13 Fans,It's Tina from Ken & Tina.....Greene Team!!!! I love reading everything all of you have written about our Season 13. We truly had an amazing journey and adventure. We so enjoyed meeting some of you in NY with "Very Special Thanks" to Georgia Peach for the special treats at the Salon!!! What fun our first TarCon event was and we look forward to attending many more.....even though we were a little bummed watching the Finale and reliving how very close we were to the $1 Million!!!! But, we did win so much more and that is our marriage back and a renewed sense of respect for each other. But, we can pray that they bring the Greene Team back on the next All Stars so we can show them that age can overcome youth!!!I was so amazed when we returned from the Race and found your site.....you are absolutely astounding detectives and were so "right on" in so many areas of our Race. VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!! Cheers to all of you and to our fellow Racers who we came to love and admire each of their unique qualities and strengths. It was a wonderful Reunion for us in NY!!!! Wishing everyone a blessed holiday and "Amazing New Year!"

Now that you are here I am lost for words Tina! I absolutely love, adore and admire you and Ken! I try not to have a favorite team so that I can be bias but fell in love with you both and couldn't help my feelings <3! Thank you for entertaining us, thank you for the happy ending which in my mind, you both won the biggest prize of all, no kidding

God Bless you Kiwi and Puddin!!!! We so appreciate your support and love!!! It has been absolutely astounding the outpouring of emails, posts to our website, facebook etc.......from around the world. I feel humbled that we did in fact touch some lives.......and in the process our own lives were touched in such a positive way. I will absolutely come back and see how you and everyone is doing on RFF and keep you posted on any new developments with us. You may even see us "renew our vows" on TV and possibly some Adventure Travel trips, etc.........Who Knows?!?!?!?! XOXOXOXO, T